Identification of Prints

The prints of this series are currently identified through the chapters of the Tale of Genji with which they relate. However this identification is incomplete and can generate some confusion, as can be  seen by browsing through the image relation provided.

The prints are numbered in the upper cartouche with black background (click here to see an example of this cartouche). The associated chapter of the Tale of Genji can be identified by its crest (genjimon) which can be found in the wider cartouche with white background (click here to a genjimon table). 

For reasons unknown Kunichika did not follow the order of the chapters as stated in the Tale of Genji, and dedicated several prints to the same chapter. A consequence of this is that while some chapters have several illustrations in the series, others are not represented.

However, the number of cases where there is an exact match between the number of the print and the number of the chapter is too high to simply say that there is no connection. 

Some notes

The illustrated relation of the series identifies the prints by its number, by the number of the related chapter of the Tale of Genji and by the title of the chapter. However the identification of the chapters is by no means final, namely due to the irregular carving of some genjimon (click here to see an example).

This situation must be particularly noted in relation to printer number 4, which includes a genjimon that can not be identified with absolute certainty (click here).

Acknowledgements

The presentation of this illustrated relation would not have been possible without the precious collaboration of Ross Walker, from Tokyo (click here to visit his site) and Friedrich Hufnagel, from Vienna, who contributed with images and feedback. Any errors or omissions are however exclusively of my own. 

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